tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post5450649255556360354..comments2024-03-27T09:14:27.496+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Why the Establishment Loves Jeremy ClarksonPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-87194269737669952792015-03-27T20:54:17.830+00:002015-03-27T20:54:17.830+00:00That's too awful a prospect to contemplate, Ke...That's too awful a prospect to contemplate, Ken. Though to be fair to Clarkson, I'm pretty sure his chummy chummy with the Chipping Norton set would make him Tory party bound should he dip his toe into politics.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-77031113911227046722015-03-27T20:53:08.843+00:002015-03-27T20:53:08.843+00:00There is no condescension, Anon. Coming from a To...There is no condescension, Anon. Coming from a Top Gear-watching family myself ...<br /><br />The point is Top Gear attracts a very wide audience. It's an entertaining programme. Yet there is a core to that audience who not only enjoy the programme, but also identify with Clarkson. That's what I'm interested in and what I addressed in the previous post. This, as you'll know from reading the post carefully, is about why the establishment cling to him.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-91501437034965535892015-03-27T14:19:56.146+00:002015-03-27T14:19:56.146+00:00You're right Phil, I did get your Farage and C...You're right Phil, I did get your Farage and Clarkson analyses mixed up. <br /><br />Mind you, it's easy to get these two chancers mixed up.<br /><br />Which brings a thought. Farage has said he'll stand down as leader if UKIP fails to gain any seats and Labour doesn't promise an EU referendum.<br /><br />What if Clarkson got Farage's old job, and Farage got Clarkson's? Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03493440163559858462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-635691016010525492015-03-26T21:05:36.393+00:002015-03-26T21:05:36.393+00:00A few years ago I recruited a small team, a man an...A few years ago I recruited a small team, a man and woman in their early twenties and a woman her late thirties. All intelligent and left leaning and socially liberal; Top Gear was their common ground. <br />Your condescension to its viewers grates.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-74135018134671253722015-03-26T17:19:19.001+00:002015-03-26T17:19:19.001+00:00I think you are viewing this through the prism of ...I think you are viewing this through the prism of neo liberal centre left politics with far left social liberal concerns from in for good measure. So for you, a slight shift in support from centre right to centre left represents some profound move away from conservatism!<br /><br />The fact is that Britain is now a largely petty bourgeois nation, and wherever there is a huge petty bourgeois conservatism is alive and well (no matter how many tranny videos you can watch on the internet)! I actually a trend toward more ‘conservative’ values in recent years, whether this is sustainable will depend on the economy stupid!<br /><br />The real victims of demographics have been the left, who don’t seem to have noticed that the actively conscious working class have largely disappeared from these shores.<br /><br />PS In my experience Top Gear is very popular among women. Never watched it myself.<br />BCFGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-82567199627950931582015-03-26T11:15:25.159+00:002015-03-26T11:15:25.159+00:00In a small way it has been quite fun observing the...In a small way it has been quite fun observing the explosive reactions of Clarkson obsessives and anti-BBC fanatics to the decision…they’ve all been behaving like petulant, bad losers – in the face of an entirely common sense decision by a public institution which ought not to tolerate workplace violence, bullying and harassment of any type…. <br /><br />Times ed. this morning read like Murdoch himself could have penned it – rambling, incoherent, only managing a very unconvincing “throat clearing” mention of the issue of violence and bullying in workplaces whilst then vehemently attacking the BBC for not making exceptions for the enormous talent (Yes!! Really!!) of Clarkson…Contemptuous, elitist drivel which operates on an entirely different plane to how the majority of working people expect they should be treated in the workplace. <br />Alex Rossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-11181612141636764772015-03-26T08:48:47.589+00:002015-03-26T08:48:47.589+00:00You've got it mixed up, Ken. Clarkson, like Fa...You've got it mixed up, Ken. Clarkson, like Farage, have a certain popularity because (mainly) men of a certain age can relate to them both. It's Farage who's the straight-talking gaffer. And Clarkson, well, he's the bloke who never married and spent his cash on nice cars and chasing women. <br /><br />I agree with your second part though.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-39493467422170640102015-03-26T08:16:33.214+00:002015-03-26T08:16:33.214+00:00All well said, but I'm not convinced by your &...All well said, but I'm not convinced by your 'straight talking gaffer' explanation of Clarkson's popularity. I know the type, I've worked under that kind of foreman and line manager, and Clarkson doesn't remind me of them. And it doesn't account for why I (not at all a petrolhead) like Clarkson's onscreen persona.<br /><br />I think a better explanation was provided by some Tory columnist who referenced Orwell's essay <a href="http://www.george-orwell.org/The_Art_of_Donald_McGill/0.html" rel="nofollow">'The Art of Donald McGill'</a>.<br /><br />No matter how seriously you take, say, road safety, social equality or climate change, the fact is that the demands of dealing with them -- and the endless self-righteous nagging and guilt-tripping about them, which is the currently favoured way of popularising them -- are a drag. Part of you, and by no means the worst part, always rebels. <br /><br />And that part inwardly cheers at someone who sticks two fingers up at them.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03493440163559858462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-1204673554971247982015-03-25T22:57:02.719+00:002015-03-25T22:57:02.719+00:00Clarkson's got form; he had a punch up with Pi...Clarkson's got form; he had a punch up with Piers Morgan although in that case with an even bigger wanker.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18097624792336619525noreply@blogger.com